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ATLANTA – Six people were injured by lightning struck a golf course twice on Saturday in the third round of the championship.
Strikes hit the East Lake golf course, while amateurs and golfers were waiting for the bad weather to pass. The tournament organizers then interrupted the game for the day, pushing back the round to Sunday, noting that the injuries did not seem to be life-threatening.
The ambulances were summoned in an area between the 16th departure and the driving position at around 16:45. Eastern Daylight Saving Time. Billy Kramer, a resident of Dunwoody, Georgia, and the owner of N.F.A. Burger, one of the food vendors of the tournament. He was in a cart looking for more supplies for his eighth fairway stand, when a lightning hit a pine tree just off the road where he was driving.
"It was like a sound boom," said Kramer, sitting on the grass, cared for by medical staff as he waited to be loaded into an ambulance.
Another man was lying on his back on the golf course, which was strewn with acorns and bark. He was attached to a stretcher and was the second person to be placed in an ambulance and taken away. Kramer was third, although his sister, Staci Kramer, announced that he was leaving the hospital on Saturday night and planned to work on the course on Sunday.
In a statement, the PGA Tour stated that four people had been injured by debris from the tree that had been struck, but that none of these injuries threatened the patient's life.
Later, tournament officials said that two other people had been treated by medical staff, but it was unclear whether they too would have been hit by debris.
The third round of the Tour Championship, the third and final round of the PGA Tour playoffs, began at 1 pm under a darkening sky. The last pairing in the group of 30 players ended at 3:20 pm. and was through five holes.
Matt Kuchar was on the eighth hole when the game was suspended. He withdrew to the grid of players inside the club, and that's where he was when the two thunderbolts took place. "It rocked the clubhouse," he said. "Powerful and powerful things. Scary things. "
The second round Friday was delayed more than an hour because of the storms that hit the area. Many players and caddies expressed their surprise that the Saturday departure times were not increased to avoid another weather delay.
"Most of us have seen what happened yesterday and thought we would adjust accordingly today," Kuchar said. "We think the tour will be the right thing to do. It's an easy case to oppose a quarter and say we should and can, but we have not done it. "
The skies were clear when tournament officials stopped the game for the first time, with Justin Thomas ahead of Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka at one go.
Mark Russell, vice president of rules and circuit competition, said thunderstorms were announced in the afternoon, but he added, "Often we are lucky and we are not hit by thunderstorms, especially in situations where they re pop-ups like this. "
As Saturday's storm approached, he said, weather warnings appeared on all the dashboards of the course and spectators were advised to seek refuge.
When asked why the tour did not run at tee times, Russell said, "I think if we did that every time we had the possibility of a thunderstorm in the southeast, we would do it almost every once we play golf. "
The broadcast window of the NBC channel was at 14:30. at 7 pm local time. When the game was canceled for the day, NBC aired the last round of the championship last year.
The third round was to resume on Sunday morning and the start times of the fourth round were not changed, which allowed the tournament to end as originally planned.
Tyler Dennis, head of tour operations, said the meteorologist had identified "50 to 60 percent chance of 3 to 6 storms" on Saturday.
Kuchar said that he felt "so bad" for those who were injured. "I think the tour did everything in their power," he said. We all know that everyone comes here to have fun, enjoy an excellent golf and spend a pleasant afternoon. And that whoever gets hurt in any way is a terrible thing. "
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